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Is WODS Doomed?

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

Unless I missed something, I have not seen anything on this board regarding any rumors of WODS flipping to FM talk. There was not even a hint of it in the January PPM thread on this board. I've even done a few searches on this board using keywords like "talk" and "flip" and WODS. Hell, I don't think even our own raccoonradio - who's going to join me in the 10,000-post club pretty soon - has even gotten wind of such a thing, though I could be wrong, in that regard.

So, why, then, would the CBS Radio/Boston spokeswoman tell the Boston Herald, "Despite what you may have heard, there are no plans to change the format of the station"?

Reminds me of that saying, "When somebody says it's not about the money... it's about the money." So when soembody says it's not about 103.3 changing formats... ?
 
Don't know if I would call it "doomed"
They did lose a significant amount of listeners following the Christmas music, but they are at about the same spot they were before the Christmas music. The ratings for the morning show are not good at all, so perhaps a switch there.
 
I don't see it happening.

The 2 major players in talk, WRKO and 96.9 are not pulling ratings that would indicate to me that talk is lucrative enough to blow up a format that over time has proven to be a winner, and I have no reason to suspect that is going to change soon.

1.9 and 2.5 ratings in the 6+ are nowhere near the 3.8 WODS posted for January, and that number is low compared to where they usually show up. Pre Christmas they were 6.7, and that is more than the other 2 stations combined.

Even if Howie Carr was available, which is going to happen next year, I don't think he is enough of a draw to blow up WODS and try to bring in something new. There are another 20 hours of air time to fill.


When CBS blew up WBCN, they had nothing to lose, the station was dead, the format was dead, the listeners left long ago and were not returning, and they saw there was another station with listeners they could lure away, and that is exactly what happened.
 
Don't forget their sister station is a major player in talk--WBZ from 8 pm-5 am or so wkdays, Rea and Leveille...and wknd shows like Rich, etc.
When Sports Hub started they were able to free up Rea from Bruins pre-emptions.

If they feel 'greatest hits 60s-70s-80s' has dried up and wanted talk what would they run? A simulcast of 1030 news and talk? (already on one of 98.5's HDs I believe) Go after Howie--but he's locked in till
late '12? Whom would they have for local talkers--and as for syndie (assuming it's conserv) they can't have
Rush, Hannity, Beck, Smerconish, Savage, Ingraham...would they go after Salem talkers like Gallagher?
Or would they make the Donna, Joe V, Glavins etc ecstatic and do liberal talk (working out a deal with
the shows WWZN carries)? Ed Schultz on 103.3? Hmm.

I do know some stations elsewhere are simulcasting or moving their talkers or news-talkers on FM.
"WBZ Newsradio 1030 and 103.3"? Haven't heard rumors.
There are other formats like urban AC etc that some here may like. Who knows...no scuttlebutt so far.
Yes a big drop from the Christmas period but they do fairly well with their audience. We can make wild
guesses like also wondering when WEEI would go to FM within 128 and this is indeed something to have a little fun with.

It's also interesting to imagine what might have happened had 93.7
NOT beaten 103.3 to the punch with variety hits. ODS was ready to flip to Jack, then Mike debuted. Had ODS gone to variety hits would
93.7 being simulcasting WEEI by now? Or still running Star?

If ODS gets another few good ratings periods maybe we can see them staying the way they are. Or
can we picture that their audience is aging out of the demo, or if they go talk that tends to be an older
demo anyway --unless maybe they'd try hot talk. Tom Leykis anybody?

File under "if you think there are too many talk stations now...." But we...shall...see.

Not sure where rumor of ODS to talk came from. How about the rumor that Ent. was going to buy FNX
and kill it off, putting Mike there and EEI on 93.7...funny, the only place that had that rumor was in the Weekly Dig, rival to the Phoenix!
 
If they flip to talk they will be doomed.
DToTheJ said:
So when somebody says it's not about 103.3 changing formats... ?
Click to expand...
It could be about trying to generate a buzz where there is none.
 
I actually think WODS is very listenable. They could use a good, local contest for the spring book. I'm surprised that someone said that the morning show isn't doing well. I do miss Zito. It must have done well during the Christmas period??? If they did flip to talk, I could see Karen doing a light, talk show.
 
Only reason I could see WODS changing is if it a- isnt making money, and b-not being able to hold down Magic in the ratings.

CBS could go CHR with it - having a "Now" or "Amp" would be a good cluster mate to Mix as a combo sell.
 
dhoule said:
I think if 103.3 went CHR--it would hurt CBS's Hot AC (Mix 104.1). That would be unfortunate.
Click to expand...

Not if they leaned it very Rhythmic, and plus it could be a compliment to MIX as JAM'N is to KISS.
 
A Format change for WODS? Good God! What'll we do when Christmas comes around this year? Will we have to go to the internet for our Christmas music? Let's face it; WROR and WODS play the tired old chestnuts over and over again! I'd rather hear the fresh new sounds on the web!
 
dhoule said:
I think if 103.3 went CHR--it would hurt CBS's Hot AC (Mix 104.1). That would be unfortunate.
Click to expand...

That's why it's not happening. Now back to covering serial killer murders, Jessica.
 
103 has always been one of my favorite radio stations. I just wonder how much truth there really is in the "talk radio" rumor. Talk radio doesn't seem to be doing that well so why would they even think about changing. Hasn't this station done well for a very long time? If they have gone down in ratings recently then maybe the music isn't exactly what people want to hear. Maybe it's just a little modification of some sort. As far as the DJ's...they are all pretty familiar. Although, I have never been a huge fan of Paula Street. I find her kind of fake sounding. Maybe they could use a change in that area. imo.
In any case I do like 103 I just wish they would play a little but more music from the mid to late 80's.
 
A good format for WODS to go would be Rhythmic/CHR and have it sound like sister station Hot 93.7 in Hartford, CT which is Rhythmic/CHR but leans Urban just a bit. Would do damage to Jam'n 94.5 and it sounds like they could use a competor from the other topic on the Boston Board about them playing a Taylor Swift song.
 
Who knows if they're flipping, but I did read today that Ralphie Marino is leaving as co-host to do mornings on Long Island. A sign of things to come??
 
If they do flip, the only logical format is CHR. Kiss has been getting 10.0s in PPMs for the past 6 months and they need competition. JAMN is their competition and they are essentially competing against themselves. CHR/Rhythmic with an urban lean does not really makes sense, since the format is dying. Hip hop & R&B has been on a decline since the mid 2000s; hence the reason why JAMN has not gone full urban especially in Boston where there is a small African American/Hispanic community. An urban format would probably bring in lower ratings than the current format. Maybe a AC Rhythmic or a Star 937 type format?
 
Moving WODS away from their format to a talk format is just simply not in its best interest. Just simply looking at the number of talk talk stations in this market is enough to give pause to adding an additional talk station. In addition to WRKO and WTKK, they would have to compete with WBUR and WGBH, largely talk stations now. They could move to a Top 40 format but wouldn't this just be competing with WBMX? WBMX is probably more likely to move its music to go directly against Clear Channel's dominant top-40 signals. WTKK would be more of a better candidate to switch considering it would not compete as much with WMJX, and also would be cheaper to operate than paying expensive talk show hosts.
 
In the latest ratings, WODS is tied for #10 in Boston. OK, that's not as good as other CBS Oldies/Classic Hits stations in NYC, LA, Philadelphia, etc. But it's far from panic time. Especially when every holiday season, the station zooms up to the top 3 by playing Christmas music. I'm sure every year WODS's profits (including holiday revenue) are enough for CBS to keep it in it's present format.

The only market where CBS is running a news format on FM is San Francisco where several formats tried and failed on 106.9 so that FM signal is now simulcasting KCBS Newsradio 740. WBZ's ratings are excellent, so there's no need at this time for an FM simulcast. Boston already has too many talk stations dividing up the talk listener base, including WBZ at night, so starting a new all-talk format on 103.3 is really a left field speculation.

Has WODS been updating its Oldies/Classic Hits sound? You listen to WCBS-FM and there are only a handful of 60s songs each hour. Most of the time you hear 70s and 80s pop songs, always office-friendly. And that has kept WCBS-FM in the top 5 in the 25-54 demo, but still serving Beatles and Motown fans. Really, it's too early to talk about WODS's demise. But if it ever happened, I agree with those above that it would likely be for a Top 40 sound leaning rhythmic, splitting the difference between Kiss and Jamin'. That would not interfere that much with co-owned Hot AC WBMX.


Gregg
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